


words more naked than flesh, stronger than bone

by hihoplastic



Series: The Worst Witch Tumblr Prompts [21]
Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:55:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24984937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hihoplastic/pseuds/hihoplastic
Summary: Pippa had sent the letters by post a few days ago, with a note explaining what they were and how much she wanted Hecate to realize that she’s loved, and has always been loved. Hecate is slowly working her way through them, managing only a few a day before she becomes overwhelmed and emotional and needs time to process. But they’re always on her mind, during her classes, in staff meetings. She thinks about Pippa’s slanted hand, the tear stains on some, the humor in others. She isn’t quite finished reading all of them, but Pippa is visiting later in the evening, and she can’t quite keep the smile off her face.
Relationships: Hardbroom/Pentangle (Worst Witch)
Series: The Worst Witch Tumblr Prompts [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1014084
Comments: 21
Kudos: 97





	words more naked than flesh, stronger than bone

**Author's Note:**

> \- title from Sappho  
> \- for anon who requested “smut + explicit letters”  
> 

It’s perhaps the most thoughtful, heart-wrenching gift she’s ever received. A small wooden box, full of letters Pippa wrote her throughout the years, and never sent. Some are a bit angry—she understands—and some are melancholy, but most are full of little things Pippa wanted to tell her: the night before her college graduation, how proud she was of herself, how much she wished Hecate were there to celebrate with her; a rotten blind date her friends set her up on that nearly makes Hecate laugh; little observations about her favorite students (unnamed) and several letters explaining her fight to establish her own, modern academy. Hecate reads them almost greedily, tears in her eyes that are part joy, part pain. She wishes she could have been there through all of it, wishes things had been different. But Pippa had assured her that it doesn’t matter—that they’re here now, together, and she’d given Hecate the letters to prove to her that this is truly what she wants—what Pippa has always wanted. 

Pippa had sent the letters by post a few days ago, with a note explaining what they were and how much she wanted Hecate to realize that she’s loved, and has always been loved. Hecate is slowly working her way through them, managing only a few a day before she becomes overwhelmed and emotional and needs time to process. But they’re always on her mind, during her classes, in staff meetings. She thinks about Pippa’s slanted hand, the tear stains on some, the humor in others. She isn’t quite finished reading all of them, but Pippa is visiting later in the evening, and she can’t quite keep the smile off her face. 

Dimity remarks that she looks different, seems happier. Ada smiles at her knowingly. Hecate scowls, and does her best to hide the besotted look on her face, but it isn’t entirely successful, until her afternoon class when Mildred adds too much salt to a growing potion and her cauldron explodes all over the lab. 

It’s enough to sour her mood, and she spends the next hour supervising their clean up, testy and irritable. Mildred looks contrite, at least, and when the lab is mostly picked up, Hecate sighs and releases her, tells her she’ll re-do the potion tomorrow in detention, and this time Hecate will keep a closer eye on her progress. 

Mildred nods, and almost smiles, like she knows the real reason Hecate insists on “detentions”—teachable moments, Ada calls them—before bounding out of the lab. Hecate rolls her eyes, and waves a hand to finish cleaning the rest of the potion off the walls. 

When she returns to her room, she’s still tense, and she gravitates towards Pippa’s letters without realizing what she’s doing until she has one in her hand, sitting on her bed, reading one marked from the year before Pentangle’s was founded, Pippa’s lengthy story about a bird she saw on her walk home, her meeting with the Great Wizard that hadn’t quite gone to plan, updates on her family, her brother’s wedding. She can hear Pippa’s voice in the words, and it settles her nerves, brings a smile back to her face. 

She reads the letter over a few times before she glances at the clock. Pippa will be here shortly, and she should clean up a bit, but her hand is already reaching for another letter, just one more before she arrives. 

It starts the way they all do, with a date, and _Dearest Hecate._

_I had a dream last night that you were here,_ the letter begins. _I dreamt that you kissed me. But that isn’t quite right—you devoured me, and I wanted you to. ___

__Hecate pauses, stares down at the letter. She hasn’t read anything like this, is suddenly uncertain, her eyes skipping along the page, words and phrases jumping out at her like, _warmth_ and _tender_ and _your hand between my thighs._ _ _

__She feels her cheeks flush, heat rising along her spine. She thinks she should put it down, should ask Pippa before she reads it. Though it isn’t any more or less personal than the others, it’s explicit, details, in what Hecate absorbs as she stares down at the words, exactly what Pippa wanted Hecate to do to her, exactly how it would make her feel._ _

__It isn’t that they haven’t already had sex—haven’t done the act Pippa is describing in such detail—but to read the way Pippa describes it, it makes her skin hot and her throat tight and she quickly folds the letter back into its envelop._ _

__Her heart is pounding, what little she caught from the letter in graphic detail in her mind, and she stands up, quickly splashes some water on her face in her en-suite and tries to get her breathing back under control. She barely has time to do that when there’s a knock at the door, and Hecate squares her shoulders, tries to focus._ _

__She lets Pippa in, smiles despite herself, but can’t help stiffening when Pippa leans in for a kiss._ _

__Pippa frowns immediately, setting her broom aside. “Is everything alright, darling?”_ _

__Hecate nods, feels terrible for the flash of hurt that crosses Pippa’s face, and sets a hand on Pippa’s hip soothingly._ _

__“Apologies. It’s been a stressful day.”_ _

__Pippa’s shoulders relax, and she steps into Hecate’s space, gives her a quick, warm hug that is soothing, at the same time she breathes in Pippa’s perfume, feels her hips against her own, and Hecate tries not to shudder._ _

__She helps Pippa out of her coat, vanishes her broom and puts the kettle on and Pippa chats happily about her day, asks Hecate about her own. She tries to concentrate, but she keeps thinking of the letter, of Pippa’s desires, how long she’s held them. She wonders if she’s meeting expectations—if things are good enough for her. If it’s what she wants. She’s never been the most sexually active person, and she wonders if perhaps she’s failing Pippa in some way. The thought takes over, and she can’t quite focus._ _

__Pippa notices, of course, and they’ve barely touched their tea when she says, “Are you sure you’re alright, darling?”_ _

__Hecate shakes her head. “I’m fine. I...”_ _

__She doesn’t know what to say. How to ask that question. How to talk about sex openly, even though she trusts that Pippa would never laugh at her, never make fun. It still feels wrong, dirty in her mouth, and she struggles for an explanation._ _

__Pippa studies her, seems to have her own nerves because after a moment of silence, she asks, “It’s not about the letters, is it? They haven’t upset you?”_ _

__Hecate blinks, doesn’t know what her expression is doing, what it’s giving away, because Pippa’s face falls._ _

__“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—I just wanted you to know how much I thought of you, I wasn’t trying to—”_ _

__“Pippa,” Hecate says softly._ _

__Pippa quiets, her head down, and she looks embarrassed, looks heart broken, and Hecate can’t stand it._ _

__“It’s not the letters,” she assures her. “They’re... beautiful. I... they’re wonderful.”_ _

__Pippa looks up with a hesitant smile. “Yeah?”_ _

__Hecate forces a smile back. “Of course,” she says. “It’s just...” She clears her throat, looks away. “There’s one letter in particular I am... not sure how to address.”_ _

__“Oh? Which one?”_ _

__Hecate hesitates, then rises, moves back to her bedroom and plucks the letter off the bed, brings it back and before she can talk herself out of it, holds it out to Pippa._ _

__Pippa takes it, opens it, reads it, her cheeks going red as she stares at her own words, and what she says is a slightly strangled, “Ah.”_ _

__Hecate nods, and sits back down, and Pippa bites her lip, which doesn’t really help matters at all._ _

__“I forgot I wrote these,” she says, and Hecate tries not to stumble over the fact that there might be more of them in the box._ _

__“I wasn’t certain if you meant for its inclusion,” Hecate says, as primly as she can. “I didn’t read it in its entirety.”_ _

__Pippa smiles up at her softly. “They were meant for you,” she says. “I wouldn’t have minded.” A shadow crosses her face. “Unless it’s made you uncomfortable, in which case I apologize, I never meant—”_ _

__“It’s alright,” she says. “It’s not you, I—I didn’t want to cross a line.”_ _

__Pippa shakes her head, and stands up, moves to sit on the sofa next to her, letter in her hand. “You wouldn’t have. The letters are yours, for better or worse. I just... wanted to be honest with you about what I was feeling, all those years. How I still feel.” She takes Hecate’s hand, and Hecate feels warmth spread through her bones. “You can read it if you like. Now, or later. Or not at all, if you prefer. There are a few others like it, moments when I... I wanted you more than I could bear.”_ _

__Hecate swallows the lump in her throat. “I felt that way too sometimes,” Hecate admits._ _

__Pippa smiles. “Then we’re okay?”_ _

__“Of course,” she says, but she can’t quite draw her eyes away from the letter, suddenly, now that she has Pippa’s permission, wants to know everything. What it says. What Pippa wants._ _

__Pippa seems to understand, and holds it out to her. Hecate takes it with a shaking hand, feels Pippa drop her own hand to Hecate’s thigh, feels her touch like a brand._ _

__The letter is older, from just after Pippa’s graduation, a dream she’d had of Hecate that she expresses in detail. Most of the nights they’ve spent together, Pippa has lead and Hecate has followed, a bit uncertain, a bit shy, but willing to learn, to find out what Pippa loves, how to make her feel safe and loved._ _

__The letter is different. In the letter, Hecate is in charge, not domineering, but a bit more firm, a bit less afraid. Hecate feels her mouth go dry as she reads it, feels her stomach tighten and her heart pound._ _

__Pippa sits next to her, silent, except for her slightly ragged breathing, and Hecate reads the letter a few times, tries to memorize all the things Pippa wants her to do, at least in theory._ _

__When she finally sets it down on the table, Pippa is staring at her with a bit of worry, and Hecate takes her hand, brushes her thumb over the pulse in her wrist, unsteady. Pippa inhales sharply, her eyes wide, and Hecate wants to kiss her so she does, leans forward and brushes her lips to Pippa’s, soft and seeking._ _

__Pippa relaxes instantly, leans into her, opens her mouth and moans softly at Hecate’s touch._ _

__When they pull away, a bit breathless, Hecate forces herself to look Pippa in the eye, to ask,_ _

__“Is that what you want?”_ _

__Pippa blinks. “I—it doesn’t matter. I love being with you, however you’re comfortable with, darling.”_ _

__Hecate shakes her head. “Is it what you _want?_ ” _ _

__Pippa hesitates. “Only if it’s what you—” she starts, and Hecate cuts her off with a kiss, firmer this time, more desperate, curling her hand around the back of Pippa’s neck and drawing her in. Pippa groans, moves closer, and Hecate pulls her onto her lap, hiking up her dress around her waist, grips her thigh and holds her close, hand roaming over her dress._ _

__Hecate isn’t certain how long they stay that way, she gets lost in the feel of Pippa’s mouth against hers, Pippa’s warmth, the skin of her thigh under her hand. She drags her mouth from Pippa’s, presses kisses along her jaw, her neck, her collarbone. Pippa waves a hand and lets Hecate’s hair down, tangles her fingers in the strands._ _

__Hecate drags her hands up Pippa’s legs, pushes against her dress, wants it off. Normally she would ask, would hesitate, but Pippa’s letter rings in her ears, and she waves a hand, delighted when Pippa shudders against her, delighted in all the bare skin on display._ _

__“Hecate...” Pippa murmurs, and Hecate hushes her with a kiss, unhooks her bra and tosses it aside, brings a hand up to cup her breast, squeezing softly. Pippa moans, tilts her head back and Hecate mouths along her chest, leaves little bruises in her wake that Pippa will have to cover, flicks a thumb over Pippa’s nipple and closes her lips around her other breast. Pippa shivers, digs her hands tighter in Hecate’s hair, encouraging her closer, a bit harder, and Hecate complies. Pippa gasps, her hips bucking against Hecate’s, a wanton _please_ escaping. Her hands go to the collar of Hecate’s dress, pawing at it, and Hecate shakes her head. Pippa whines, and Hecate smirks against her skin. _ _

__She isn’t certain how they get from the sofa to the bed, but she magics away their shoes and covers Pippa’s body with her own, remembers Pippa’s words, her desire for the scrape of Hecate’s dress against her skin, and leaves it on. Her hands roam over Pippa’s skin, hot to the touch, and Pippa wraps her arms around Hecate’s shoulders, trying to pull her closer. Hecate laughs softly, slowly, gently, pulls Pippa’s arms away, guides her hands up over her head and holds them there for a moment, holds Pippa’s gaze._ _

__She isn’t certain what she looks like, her hair likely in disarray from Pippa’s hands, her eyes dark, her cheeks flushed, but Pippa swallows, hunger in her gaze as she relaxes, and leaves her hands where Hecate placed them when she lets go._ _

__“Good girl,” Hecate whispers, and Pippa shudders, whining softly._ _

__“Hecate.”_ _

__Hecate kisses her briefly, fiercely, before moving down her body, lips tracing every inch of skin she can, pausing at her collarbone, over her breasts, at her belly button. She trails her fingernails lightly over Pippa’s hipbones, making her shiver, does it again, and again, until Pippa is squirming. She tries to move her hands down again, to Hecate’s hair, but Hecate catches them, brings them back, her grip firm but gentle._ _

__“Stay there,” she says, more commanding than she’s been in bed before, and Pippa nods, her eyes blown wide, lips parted._ _

__Hecate smiles, a bit self-deprecating, and Pippa’s eyes soften, and she leans up for a quick, reassuring kiss._ _

__Hecate nips at her lip before ducking her head, moving back down her body. She looks up Pippa’s body, sees the way she’s breathing heavily, her eyes trained on Hecate’s movements as she curls her fingers, removes the last barrier between them. Pippa’s breathing hitches and Hecate slides a hand down the inside of Pippa’s thigh, gently pushes her legs apart. Pippa goes willingly, breathing hard, her hips jumping at the first press of Hecate’s lips between her legs._ _

__Hecate goes slow, gentle licks and touches, takes her time until Pippa is wet and writhing.  
Her chest heaves and she’s panting and Hecate smirks up at her before rising, kissing under her jaw, her neck, and starts all over. She tracks her way down Pippa’s body again, mouths at all the places she knows Pippa loves, knows make her feel good. She listens to the changes in Pippa’s breathing, her soft cries, her moans, the way she keeps trying to move her hands, then remembering, keeping them in place above her head. _ _

__By the time she’s back between her legs, her tongue flicking softly over Pippa’s clit, Pippa can barely keep her hips on the bed, begging her to please _just touch me, please, Hecate, touch me._ _ _

__Hecate shortens two of her nails with her magic, slips one, then another inside the warm heat of Pippa’s body, uses her other hand to keep Pippa’s hips on the bed. Pippa moans loudly, her body shuddering as Hecate curls her fingers, moves them slowly in and out. She knows it isn’t enough for Pippa, not now, not nearly enough, and Pippa nearly whimpers when she removes her fingers, slides up her body, and repeats the entire process again._ _

__“Hecate,” she begs, trying to wrap her legs around Hecate’s waist, trying to pull her back down. “Please.”_ _

__“Be patient,” she murmurs, and Pippa groans._ _

__“I have been. I have been, please—”_ _

__“Hush, dear,” she whispers, the endearment slipping out. It quiets Pippa a little, makes her settle, and Hecate smiles against her skin. “I’ll take care of you.”_ _

__Pippa takes a ragged breath, nods, lets Hecate mouth her way across her body again, Hecate’s hands trailing up and down her sides, across her stomach, over her thighs._ _

__This time, when she settles between Pippa’s thighs, spread open for her, Pippa’s breathing harsh and unsteady, Hecate doesn’t stop. She picks a slow, steady rhythm, and steadily builds it. Ducks her head and licks along her walls, occasionally across her clit to feel Pippa’s hips jerk._ _

__Pippa’s moaning again, crying out every so often, her hips starting to move, and Hecate picks up the pace, moves her fingers swiftly, curls them just right, flicks her tongue over Pippa’s clit the way she knows she likes. It’s a quick build, with how wound up Pippa is already, Pippa pleading, words falling from her lips without restraint, without order, _please,_ and _Hiccup,_ and _oh, gods.__ _

__Hecate lays one arm over Pippa’s hips just before she sucks her clit into her mouth and curls her fingers and Pippa shatters, arches into her arm with a cry, and Hecate doesn’t stop. Doesn’t let her come down, keeps her mouth there and her fingers moving and Pippa shudders, her whole body straining as she comes, and then comes again a moment later. She brings a hand down to curl softly in Hecate’s hair, and Hecate eases up, licks her through the aftershocks before carefully removing her fingers. Pippa whines at the loss, but when she opens her eyes, they’re hazy and soft._ _

__Pippa tugs gently on her shoulder, brings Hecate up for a warm, slightly sloppy kiss._ _

__“I love you,” she whispers._ _

__Hecate smiles, and brushes a strand of sweat-slicked hair back from Pippa’s cheek._ _


End file.
